When I was young, my mother read to me often. As I grew, the books were placed in my hands so that I could read them.  
Having had two sons of my own, I know how much patience it takes to allow a small child to read when I could do it so much better. But it is an essential aspect of teaching. We must allow them to take their first steps, tie their own shoes and even fail and fall down. Even harder, we sometimes have to allow them to pick themselves up.
It’s one thing to go through that when your child is 2 years old. But how about doing it all over again when he is in his mid-20s?
That has been one aspect of the test my family has been going through for almost four months now. My son was severely injured in his work truck the last week of June. He spent almost three months in the hospital and continues to do physical therapy every week.  
We have learned so much about spinal-cord injuries during this ordeal, but one lesson has been the hardest to learn. The fact is that no one (other than the Lord himself) can say what the final outcome will be. Every time we have asked questions concerning the future, we have been told, “We don’t know. There’s no way to know. Every spinal injury is different.”  
And so we wait. And we wait.
Our son has made great progress. In his wheelchair, he is a speed demon, just as he always has been. I can’t keep up with him at the store or in the parking lot. But then I watch them put braces on his legs and give him a walker. The steps are painfully slow and halting. And I want to fix it so badly.
That’s what dads do, right? They fix things for their children. But in this instance, there is nothing I can do. I can’t make it better.
And so we continue to wait. The Bible tells us, “Wait on the Lord.”  But that is so hard to do.
I once heard Henry Blackaby say, “It has always been my experience that God is never late.”
But then, with a wry smile, he also said, “But my wife points out that he is also seldom early.”  
And that has been my experience through this hard time. God has shown up in so many powerful ways. He has blessed my family time after time. But not every prayer has been answered as we have desired, at least not yet.
And so we wait. And we trust. And for good reason. God is faithful. He is trustworthy. He is good. He will never leave us nor forsake us. You count on him.